Joe The Plumber: Obama Should Be 'Embarrassed' To Visit Ohio

This time around, Joe the Plumber won't be asking much of President Barack Obama.

Sam Wurzelbacher, more commonly known by the nickname he earned during the 2008 presidential race, told Politico Thursday he has no plans to attend the president's campaign events in Ohio this week.

"I'd be kind of embarrassed if I were him to come over here," Wurzelbacher said. "He talked about transparency -- he hasn't done that. He's a typical politician. Hope was just another slogan and he's just another politician."

Wurzelbacher, a Republican who served as a John McCain surrogate in 2008, recently launched a congressional campaign against longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in Ohio's largely progressive 9th district.

The president launched a two-day bus tour Thursday, visiting Ohio and Pennsylvania to discuss his economic policies.

Wurzelbacher hasn't always been so quick to skip opportunities to grill Obama. In May, he released a campaign ad in which knocked on the White House gates to no avail, telling the camera he hoped to "finish this conversation" with the president. And Wurzelbacher Politico he still wants to ask Obama about the transparent administration he promised voters in 2008.

“What happened to transparency?" he said. “I would ask him just like I asked him last time. I was respectful. And when it comes down to it his ideology and mine, there’s a difference. I love America and I don’t know what he does."

After serving six terms in the Senate, Indiana Republican Richard Lugar was defeated by Tea Party-backed Richard Mourdock in a primary contest in the 2012 election season.

Former Sen. Bob Bennett was ousted from his post at the 2010 Utah GOP Convention. Tea Party-backed Sen. Mike Lee currently holds Bennett's old seat.

Before winning another term in the 2010 midterm election, Sen. Lisa Murkowski was defeated by Tea Party-backed Joe Miller in Alaska's race for the Republican Senate nomination. Murkowski mounted a successful write-in campaign to keep her seat.

Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who ran for Senate as an independent after beginning his campaign as a Republican in 2010, ultimately fell short in his political operation. Tea Party-backed Marco Rubio defeated Christ and Democrat Kendrick Meek in Florida's Senate general election match-up.